Kristin Currier

So yeah, I’ve been bringing a camera with me as I walk from the station to Congress Ave lately. I’ve taken some decent shots of traffic coming in and out of the deadly little road where an angry little Haitian pretended like he was going to run me over the other day.

As I said before, there are no sidewalks and no crosswalks at all on this road, or the intersection at its head, and Congress Blvd. itself has sidewalks and no crosswalks except for at major intersections miles apart. This road was not built for foot or bike traffic. Which may seem odd, seeing that it leads to and from a public train, bus stop and taxi stop.

In these photos you’ll see what I see everyday. Big buses whipping around the corner from Congress Ave. Cars with drivers not paying attention to pedestrians because they are either looking for county offices, the train station, or are distracted by their digitalia. Cop cars on the way to the Sheriff’s Office that drive, like well, cops. I try to walk on the grass to avoid the traffic, but you can see from these shots we have a large tire tread indentation in the mud from a bus or truck that ran over the cement curbing, so I need to walk further up on the landscaping.

Do I really need to start driving 60 round-trip miles on the hell that is I95 to work in order to avoid getting hit on this tiny, unnamed road to the train station? Or should I walk the mile down the road to the crosswalk at Atlantic, and a mile back to my place of employment directly across from this road?

The curb where the road meets Congress, notice the tracks in the mud that ran over the curb? Notice the big bus? People walk here!

Close-up of vehicle tracks and oncoming car. I used to walk here to avoid the cars, but now since seeing this I walk way up on the mulch.

A bus coming down at ya....time to jump up on the nice county landscaping!

Both sides of the road. No sidewalks. Now imagine it filled with a giant puddle and some angry dope in a truck faking to run you down.

I write this as I watch from my front window as all these ignorant people keep parking in front of my house or nearly blocking my driveway because they all want to see the dingy smattering of poop-stained baby clothes and pots and pans my idiot neighbors have splayed out on the same nasty blue tarp they roll out for their near monthly white-trash yard sales. They keep parking in our bulk trash heap filled with palm fronds, and when they leave, their tires drag the fronds into the street. Which they also block, because they are looking at the stuff on the lawn. While 90 cars sit behind them, making noise and exhaust stink.

Yes, I’m starting out this blog post with THAT kind of tone.

I take the Tri-Rail train from Hollywood to my place of employment in Delray Beach. I’ve done it for about 2 years now. It’s nice. I95 is filled with crazy people, and so is the Tri-Rail, but at least they can yammer away on their cell phones while not being behind the wheel of the Tailgating Hummer of Death. Another nice thing is that I can walk (or dodge more crazy people in cars) across Congress Ave directly to my work. Takes less than 5 minutes. Nice, right?

Not if you’re trying to walk out of the train station parking lot entrance way that also takes you to the South East Palm Beach Administrative Complex, Sheriff’s Office, Supervisor of Elections, Facilities Management, or Parks and Rec offices. It’s the little road that is not more than a 50 yards long. Congress is a 4 lane main road, lots of cars, no walkway or intersection lights where I cross. Yet, it’s less dangerous than that one little road leading to Delray Beach government offices and a commuter rail station.

There is no side-walk there. You have to walk in the street, or in the nicely landscaped grass and mulch on one side that is often muddy and not good for office heels. You literally have to dodge big city buses, cop cars and the general aimless population in autos who don’t pay attention to their surroundings, which pretty much is everyone in SE Florida. When it rains, the street becomes a river, with the only passable walkway being the middle of the street. So, when walking there, you need to make sure no buses or cars are coming, and you need to let them pass at a considerable distance so you don’t get soaked.

Yesterday I did just that. No cars were coming. I hurried through the middle of the street, through the giant puddle on both sides. I don’t dwaddle. I don’t text and stroll slowly, oblivious to my surroundings. I pay attention. So it amazed me that suddenly I felt water spray me from behind and I turned to find a white pick-up truck with a bed cap stopped right behind me, and an angry old Haitian man gesticulating wildly for me to get to the side of the road. You know, the side with the giant puddle.

I went off. I mean, every morning and every night I have to walk this street. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to jump far onto the grass because some idiot on a phone was coming straight for me. Just that morning some bimbo in an SUV almost got me. So this jerk in a white pick-up pretending he was going to run me over because I had the gall to walk in the only dry spot on the road caused me to flip my lid entirely. I gave it to him, in no puritan language, loud and clear and crazy. Demanded he get out of his truck and listen to me. But the coward pulled away fast and went to the train station.

Which is exactly where I was going. I saw him pick up a young man. I went right up to his door and demanded again he listen to me. I was absolutely enraged. Freaking out. Like, “Look at that crazy lady yelling Mama”. The old coward flipped me off and drove away again, afraid to roll down the window. He best pray he doesn’t see me again. I don’t take kindly to people in automobiles harassing pedestrians or people on bikes.

So my new goal in life is to write about my public transportation highs and lows, and to publicize the fact that THE CITY OF DELRAY BEACH NEEDS TO WAKE UP AND REALIZE TRAIN COMMUTERS WALK AND RIDE BIKES TO TRAIN STATIONS AND THEY NEED TO BUILD A FREAKING SIDEWALK ON THIS ROAD! They spend money mowing the pretty grass and putting mulch around the pretty trees I jump behind to avoid killer buses, they can afford to build a stupid sidewalk. I’m not the only one who takes it either. There are offices up and down Congress. Real workers take this train, not just tourists taking the Amtrak from NY.

This ends my rant. For now. I’ll be sure to post more later, and take pictures. And the local papers and Delray offices will hear from me soon as well. Florida is the deadliest place for anyone to walk or ride a bike. This is just one of many examples. I find it ludicrous that I take the train because its safer than driving, yet I can be killed just walking to or from it.